Sept. 3, 2024

How To Read and Study Pt 1

How To Read and Study Pt 1

A look at an article about how to read and study the bible

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A look at an article about how to read and study the bible

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Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is

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the Theology Central podcast making Theology Central. Good afternoon everyone.

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It is Tuesday, September third, twenty twenty four. It is

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currently two thirty three pm Central Time, and I am

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coming to you live from the Theology Central studio located

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right here in Abilene, Texas. Now what I'm going to

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ask you this, I would challenge you write down what

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are your I know, three biggest pet peeves. Three things

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that just absolutely irritate you, It drives you crazy, It

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drives you. Man. Three things that are just like, that's

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my pet peeve that irritates me, That drives me crazy.

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I can't stand that. What are your three big ones,

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the three big pet peeves in your life? Just everyone knows,

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Oh man, that will that'll drive that person crazy. I

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have a few. One is people who show up late

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to anything. That will drive me insane, Like like, no,

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if we're good, we're supposed to go here, Like I like,

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let's say we're going to a concert, it doesn't matter,

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or to a sporting of it, whatever, we're leaving it

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this time. We're not leaving one second late. We're not

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leaving two seconds late. We're leaving right on time, and

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if you're not there, I don't care. If you're family,

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I don't care if I'm leaving you because beyond time,

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because when you're not on time, you're demonstrating disrespect to

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everyone else and you think the world revolves around you

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and it doesn't. Okay, right, So yeah, late people being late.

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That's a pet peeve that usually drives me crazy. Wow,

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I probably have some others. Oh, here's one. This is

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a pet peeve with me, all right, So I love

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now because we're in twenty twenty four and well probably

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for over the last one. When did the kindle come out?

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I don't remember, but before the kindle, because as soon

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as the kindle came out, I purchased one. You know,

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buying books on the kindle. It's a little different, right,

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because they're on your kindle, they're in your library. You

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may see them, but they're just not all around you.

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But I've always had this, really, this is a big

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pet peeve when it comes to books, because it's typically

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I've seen this happen. I can't speak for Christian women,

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but for Christian men who say they love books. I've

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seen too many Christian men who like, oh, they bought

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this book, and they bought this book, and they bought

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this book, and I'd be like, so what did you read. Well,

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I haven't read all of that book. I read some

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of that, and now I'm reading this one. Okay, so

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you didn't really read the whole book, Like, so what

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did you do with the book? Did you take any notes?

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And it's like sometimes I felt like they just bought

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books to buy books, but they really didn't do much

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with the books. And that always bothers me, especially not

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so much when other people do that. I'm just like, Okay, well,

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I guess if you want to keep buying books and

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you're not actually doing anything with the books you're buying,

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I guess it's great to have a bookshelf full of

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them doing that with Sometimes when I would walk into

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a pastor's study and I'd be like, oh, you got

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this book, and well what about this and what about that?

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And I'm like, well, I haven't finished that, or I

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didn't read all of that, or I didn't really read it. Well,

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then why do you own them? I'm like, Okay, it

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just drives me crazy. But when it comes to me personally,

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I used to buy lots of physical books, lots of them.

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In fact, I have a garage full of them. I

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probably need to get rid of them. But I have

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books everywhere, right, And what would drive me crazy if

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I would look on my bookshelf and that would be like, Man,

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I bought that book four months ago, six months ago,

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or a year ago, and I would look at it

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and be like, what have I done with that book?

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Did I take extensive notes on it? Did I turn it?

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Did I utilize it for any teaching? Did I use

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it for a Bible study? What did I really do

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with that book? I mean, maybe I read some of it,

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maybe I read all of it, But what did I

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really do with it? And if anyone's been a long

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time listener, you know that can bother me. Remember there

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was a Charles Stanley book that I'm like, I've never

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really done anything with this book. So we turned it

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into a series, right, We turned it into a series,

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and we went through basically the entire book and tried

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to get something out of it. Because it was just

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like the book always haunted me. I would pick it up,

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read a little bit and then just kind of be like, well,

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I never mind, And then I would pick it up,

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read it, but I never did anything with it. So

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we turned it into a series, and I think we

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we had a little bit of fun with it, and

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I think maybe we got something out of it. So

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if I see a book laying around and if I'm like, well,

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what see did I what did I do with that?

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Did I do much with that? If I don't feel

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like I really got every you know, I got every

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cent worth of that book. Like when I purchase something,

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I want to utilize it. I want to get every

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cent worth I can out of it, right because you know,

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things cost money, so I want to make sure I

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use them. I'm the same way with whatever I purchase.

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I'm going to use it and use it and use it.

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Because if I'm not going to use it, why did

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I by it? Then I get really irritated. So the

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other day I was looking around because I got a

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new Bible and I still have a kind of a

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recent Bible, so I was kind of looking at them

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and I looked down and I'm like, wait, I brought

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that Bible home from church because they'd been sitting at

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the church being kind of in the church library, and

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I just brought it home recently, and I saw it

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laying there, and I'm like, you know, I haven't really

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used that bible. I don't even know where I got it.

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I don't know how much it costs me. But I

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got to do something with it. So I picked it

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up and I put it down here on the table. Now.

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It's really nice. It's a KJV study Bible from Hallman.

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It's very nice. I love the cover of it. It's huge.

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I mean, the thing is gigantic. Probably I got it

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and maybe not realize how big it was because it's like,

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it's really too big for the way I preach, because

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I like to walk and talk when I preach, and

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this thing is too big to carry around. This is

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one that you would just leave on the top of

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the pulpit, and I like to kind of when I

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do lots of walking when I'm teaching. So I'm like,

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so I never used it for that. I think maybe

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when I was doing all of my broadcasting at the church,

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especially during the pandemic, I may have had it there

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thinking I was going to use it more. And because

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it's a study Bible, I'll typically use that as a reference.

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So I'm like, well, I haven't really used it. So

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I picked up the Bible. I opened it, Sorry, knocking

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the microphone across the room. Okay, you open it up.

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It has King James version of the Bible, the Holman

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Holman KJV Study Bible. Okay, that looks nice. All right.

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Then you have the table of contents. All right, very good.

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You have you have a little bit of there. You

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have introduction to the Hallman KJV Study Bible. Features of

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the Hallman KJV Study Bible, cross reference, study notes, photos, maps, charts, illustrations, introductions, timelines,

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and essays. Okay, that looks good. They have some you know,

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kind of some pictures of things in the Bible where

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they tell you where to find this or where to

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find that. Okay, all right, great. They have the contributors.

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They have the general editors, the associate general editor, associate editors. Okay,

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study note contributors, those who put together the study notes.

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It gives the names of the individual and their educational accomplishments. Okay, great,

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essay contributors, great list of maps, illustrations and charts. That's

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really good. Right then I come to okay. Abbreviations used

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in the KGV Study Bible. God's Plan for Salvation okay, great,

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then they have steps to a classic, right kind of

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basically how we ended up getting the KJV version. The

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epistle dedication and translators to the reader. Now, this is

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what the translators had written down to the readers of

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the KJV translation. I think it's very good to read

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what the translators actually said, because a lot of times,

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especially in some certain elements of the KJV only movement,

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they sometimes make claims about the k that the translators

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themselves did not make. But okay, so that's to the translators,

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translators to the readers. Right, that's a good article. And

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then I turn the page. Finally, finally I get to

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a page and I'm like, oh, what is this. Here's

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an essay. This is before I even get to Genesis.

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There's all these, you know, these different things before you

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actually get to the text. And it is entitled how

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to Read and Study the Bible. And I'm like, oh, okay,

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this has my attention. How to read and study the Bible?

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Now why does it have my attention? Well, one, it

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has my attention because oh, this is something in this Bible.

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I haven't done much with this. I could utilize this

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because I can get every cent worth of I can

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out of this Bible. I'm like, okay, I could, I

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could turn on the microphone and do something with it. Okay, great.

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Two I just like so number one, I can get

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something from it. Number two. I just anytime I see

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anything about how to read and how to study, anything

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about hermeneutics, biblical interpretation, anything like that, I read, read it,

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read it and reread it, and read it and read

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it because I want to be the best Bible student

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I can possibly be. And I've been that way since

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what two three weeks after my conversion. I tell the

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story all the time. I find myself on Butternut Street, Abilene, Texas.

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There's the Bible Bookstore. It no longer exists, that sad

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moment of silence. Okay, right, but it's the first, you know,

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Christian bookstore I ever walked into. I walked into it

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and I was, you know, looking around. I always tell

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the story the older gentleman, I'm glad he didn't see

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a teenager. He saw a new convert. He didn't worry

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about my age. And he's like, well, you know, let

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me get you a book. Don't don't go to the

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youth department. You don't need any of that. And he

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handed me The Foundations of the Christian Life by James

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Montgomery Boys, tenth Presbyterian Church, basically a systematic theology. And

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that's the book he placed in my hands. And I

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years later, years like what, ten years, fifteen years later,

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twenty years later, I even know what it was. I

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got to meet I got to meet the man who

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headed me that book again, and I got to thank

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him for how transformative that book was in my life,

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because it set me on a path of well all

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of my pursuing degree of degree in philological studies, because

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systematic theology became a love. So I love that. But

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there was something else in that bookstore. There was a

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bargain bin. They were selling books at that time for

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like twenty five cents, fifty cents. They were like giving

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these books away because nobody wanted them. And so I'm

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going through, I'm a broke teenager. I'm like, you know,

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twenty five to fifty cents, okay, I can afford this,

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And I'm like, wait, twelve methods of Bible study. Now,

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I had been asking already, well, how do you study

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the Bible? Hi? And I would get like nonsensical things

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like well, you read it, you highlight it, you're right down,

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and what God is speaking to you? Just this like

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vague like subjective, touchy feely nonsense. I'm like, what is this.

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It's a it's a book, it has words there. How

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come you guys approach studying the Bible or so differently

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than how I would study any other book? Right? Like

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aren't there rules of like grammar, punctuation, context, syntex history?

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Like like I was thinking what is wrong with Christians?

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Because it was always this touchy, philly pray and hear

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a voice and I'm like what And this was in

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a Southern Baptist church and I'm like what is wrong

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with this? So I'm like, Okay, I gave up asking

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Christians how to study the Bible. I really did. I

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got I got tired of asking the pastor deacons, Christian men.

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I'm like, you people are nuts because it was some

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like mystical nonsense, like nobody could give me some tangible,

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like give me a method. So I'm like twelve methods.

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I felt like I had discovered, like, you know, some

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secret and I'm like WHOA. So I came home and

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I'm like I started studying those twelve methods. I memorized

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those twelve methods, and I started utilizing those twelve methods

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every way possible. And then I started teaching those twelve methods.

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I've taught those twelve methods of Bible study from Texas

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to Nebraska and anywhere else I can. I've done so

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on Christian radio. I've done so on Christian podcasts. I've

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done and preaching, teaching and Sunday school wherever I could. Now,

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the thing is, what I've found so frustrating is you

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try to teach people the twelve methods of Bible study,

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you can't get anyone to actually do the twelve methods.

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Because I know this is going to come as a shock.

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It requires lots of hard work, Okay, but I love

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so from that moment on, I love anytime I see

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it ooh, how to read and how to study, I'm like,

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I'm drawn to it because here's my way of thinking.

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No matter how many methods I've learned, no matter how

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many classes I've taken in hermoneutics, it doesn't matter how

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many books I've read on it. It doesn't matter all

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the all the degrees I've tried to obtain and trying

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to learn and biblical studies, religious education, thiological, whatever the

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case may be. I know that I'm never yet, I

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will never master the subject on this side of Heaven

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because I'm a sinner, and because I'm a sinner in

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some ways, we always handle the scriptures well, and we

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twist them and we turn them, and we don't interpret

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them correctly, and there's so many things that we're never

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going to do right. So I just need to constantly

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be learning how to be a better Bible student. Now.

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Sometimes if I'm being painfully honest here and painfully transparent,

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I get very very very very very very very very

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very very very very frustrated with most things that are

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written about how to read and study the Bible, because

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sometimes I feel like, what does that It's so generic,

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or what does that mean? Or I just don't agree,

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like I think things need to be tangible. Here is

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the Bible study method, here are the steps you utilize,

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and here's the things you need to get out of

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your Bible study, because it leads to misinterpretation and it

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turns it into this mystical thing and all of the

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other problems. So I'm always interested to read so this

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caught my attention. Number one just because oh it's about

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how to read and study the Bible. It caught my attention.

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I know these are not in direct order as I

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originally gave them, but because I want to get the

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most out of this Bible. So number two and number

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three it speaks well because I have I'm much of

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a critic of what I read about how to read

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and study the Bible, So I'm going to offer some criticism.

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I'm going to offer some analysis. I'm going to offer

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some critique as we work through this, and this will

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be probably a mini series because you know how many

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pages is.

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This one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, nine,

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nine pages, So it's going to take us a long

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time to work through this, but you'll be able to

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hear me check challenge.

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Kind of probably a common approach. So when I saw

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this how to Read and Study the Bible George H. Guthrie,

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I'm like, well, what are the chances that George H.

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Guthrie has written a book about how to read and

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study the Bible? And this essay is simply an edited

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or kind of summarized version of the book. So I'm like, well,

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let me look so I grabbed my iPad. I grabbed

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my iPad and I started looking, and I'm like, oh,

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here it is. It's on Amazon, how to Read Your

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Bible by George Guthrie. How to Read Your Bible by

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George Guthrie. You can currently purchase it for twelve dollars

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and ninety five cents. And I'm like, well, maybe at

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some point I will. Oh. And they also are selling

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A Short Guide to Reading the Bible Better by George

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eighth George H. Guthree. And I'm like, well, wait a minute,

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that one looks familiar. So I started looking. All right,

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I'm going to reach behind me, ladies and gentlemen, A

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Short Guide to Reading the Bible Better by George H. Guthrie.

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I already have a book here about this. And I'm like, okay,

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so I've got a book by him, I got an

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00:16:26.879 --> 00:16:29.639
article here. He's got another book called how to Read So,

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he's got a book called how to Read Your Bible.

305
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He's got a book called a Short Guide to Reading

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00:16:34.679 --> 00:16:39.480
the Bible Better, Okay, and he's got a essay in

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the Holman KJV Study Bible. I'm like, so this man

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has obviously spent a lot of time on this subject. Now,

309
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I think we have done a little bit of work

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in the podcast from this book, because once again, these

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are one of those books and I'm like, I've got

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to find a way to use this. I got to

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find a way. And the only reason I think I

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00:16:57.919 --> 00:16:59.840
have this book, I think the only reason I have

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00:16:59.879 --> 00:17:01.879
this This book is one of those situations where I

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00:17:01.879 --> 00:17:04.559
got ready to order a book and then it was like, hey,

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if you'll combine it with these four other books, you

318
00:17:07.480 --> 00:17:10.480
can basically get four books for the price of one. Well,

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then of course, give me all of them. I don't

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care what they are. So I've already been dealing with

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this a little bit. But now we're gonna I'm gonna

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try not to open this one. I'm just gonna use

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the essay in the Bible, and we're going to see

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how George H. Guthrie wants us to learn how to

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read and study the Bible. So that's what we're going

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to do right now. My pet peeve is a book

327
00:17:35.720 --> 00:17:39.039
that I haven't done anything with, and this study Bible,

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00:17:39.440 --> 00:17:41.559
I don't think I've done enough with it yet, So

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00:17:41.599 --> 00:17:44.079
I'm gonna get the most out of this. At the

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same time, the subject is very interesting to me. At

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the same time, I'm much a critic of it because

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I feel like a lot of times, even in churches,

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they'll be doing like they're doing a series on how

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to study the Bible, and I'm like, ooh, I'm going

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to listen to the series, and after about four episodes in,

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I'm like, you're not giving anyone anything tangible. Give them

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a Bible study method for crying out loud. Teach him

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to do a chapter summary method, a chapter analysis method,

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a topical method, a thematic method, a word study, a

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book background, a book survey. Tell it. Teach him how

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to do an actual method for crying out loud. The

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people are just getting these general, vague principles. Read highlight,

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look for repeated words. It's just like very basic general things.

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And I know people who use those basic general principles

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and they usually make an absolute mess out of interpreting things.

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They're cross referencing. Is like, we're going to put this

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verse with this verse, and you're like, why are you

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putting those two verses together? What is your justification for that?

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They draw weird conclusions because they don't actually know how

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to study. So I'm curious of which direction he's going

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to go and we're going to find out now. Is

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that a dramatic enough introduction? Is that that gets you ready?

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Are you ready? All right? So here we go. So

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if you want to look, if you want his actual book,

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look for how to Read Your Bible by George Guthrie.

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You can find it on Amazon. If you want a

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more condensed version, A Short Guide to Reading the Bible

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Better by George H. H. Guth Three. Right, this is

359
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a little small U. It's weird, the little short book.

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The condensed version is fourteen dollars and the other book

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is twelve dollars. Are they the same pages? Like? See

362
00:19:34.279 --> 00:19:37.000
this one is sixty eight pages? How many pages is

363
00:19:37.039 --> 00:19:43.079
in this one? Oh? Wow? Okay the small one actually

364
00:19:43.079 --> 00:19:45.880
has more pages. So I don't I don't know. I

365
00:19:45.880 --> 00:19:51.079
don't understand that. Okay, So yeah, but they've got they've

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got two of them, so you can pick which one

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you want. If you want one, or if you have

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a KJV Study Bible put together by Hallman, you just

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open it up and you'll find the article and how

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to read and study the Bible? Are you ready? Now?

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What I would challenge you to do? I always give

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people challenges. Nobody takes me up on it. Nobody takes

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me up on it. But I always give people a challenge.

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Go to church and ask the people in your church

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this question or this question or this question or this question. Now,

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sometimes I will get an email and people say, hey,

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I did ask my pastors this, and I do appreciate

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when people do that. But most of the time I

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00:20:27.440 --> 00:20:31.680
think everyone ignores me. But it's Tuesday. If you have

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church Wednesday night, you can do it. You can't, and

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you might have to wait till Sunday. You should just

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go by and ask people, hey, give me the five

383
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steps to study the Bible? How do you study the Bible?

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And see if they begin to act. Well, don't even

385
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say steps, just say how do you study your Bible?

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Tell me what you do to study your Bible, and

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listen to see if they give you an actual, definable method,

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an actual Bible study method, or if it's just these

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general platitudes right kind of like just little cliches, little

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like bumper sticker slogans. Right, I read, I pray, I

391
00:21:07.400 --> 00:21:10.119
highlight like you know, it's like, well, no, what do

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00:21:10.160 --> 00:21:13.000
you actually do? What do you actually do? As one

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one of the things that drives me crazy about churches.

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They're like, we're doing a Bible study and it'll be

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like it'll be a women's Bible study or a men's

396
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Bible study. And guess what they always have. They like,

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00:21:25.880 --> 00:21:30.039
there's some book. You've got to have some book. You've

398
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got to have some book. We're using Kay Arthur, or

399
00:21:32.640 --> 00:21:35.079
we're using Beth Moore. I know now she's not you

400
00:21:35.119 --> 00:21:37.400
know no longer you know the end thing anymore. But

401
00:21:37.519 --> 00:21:40.160
whoever it may be, and where the men are using.

402
00:21:40.200 --> 00:21:42.680
And I'm like, I how about you just show up

403
00:21:42.759 --> 00:21:46.000
at the Bible study and you pull out your Bibles

404
00:21:46.160 --> 00:21:50.480
and study the Bible using a Bible study method instead

405
00:21:50.480 --> 00:21:53.839
of you don't need a book. How about just use

406
00:21:53.839 --> 00:21:56.960
a Bible study method. Now you can mix in the books.

407
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But even if you're but because in some caidses what

408
00:21:59.039 --> 00:22:01.319
you're doing you're not actually ud the Bible. You're studying

409
00:22:01.319 --> 00:22:03.880
what someone is said about the Bible. You're not studying

410
00:22:03.960 --> 00:22:06.279
the text. And you walk away thinking you actually know

411
00:22:06.359 --> 00:22:08.400
the text, you know what someone's said about the text.

412
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So I wish churches would almost prohibit that. No, no, no,

413
00:22:13.000 --> 00:22:15.039
you're not. No, you want your we're gonna have a

414
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Bible study. You're going to study the Bible. He said, Well,

415
00:22:18.279 --> 00:22:20.160
nobody knows to actually how to do that. Then why

416
00:22:20.160 --> 00:22:22.400
do you have that class. If you don't have a

417
00:22:22.400 --> 00:22:24.640
teacher who actually knows how to study the Bible, then

418
00:22:24.680 --> 00:22:27.039
you don't you don't need the class. Get rid of

419
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the class, have everyone come to the sanctuary. So, yeah,

420
00:22:30.759 --> 00:22:34.079
that stuff drives me crazy. But let's see what they're

421
00:22:34.079 --> 00:22:37.640
gonna what George where George H. Guthrie is going to

422
00:22:37.680 --> 00:22:40.000
take us? Are you ready? It's on the name of

423
00:22:40.039 --> 00:22:43.920
the article, how to Read and Study the Bible, George

424
00:22:44.559 --> 00:22:52.359
George H. Guthrie. He begins this way. The Bible is

425
00:22:52.599 --> 00:22:58.440
unique among the books of the world. Its release date

426
00:22:58.640 --> 00:23:04.400
is centuries old, yet it still dominates the best seller lists.

427
00:23:04.640 --> 00:23:08.640
Now let me stop right here. You hear preachers say

428
00:23:08.680 --> 00:23:11.960
that all the time. And then because I've heard that

429
00:23:12.160 --> 00:23:14.400
so many times, countless times, and so I'll go look

430
00:23:14.480 --> 00:23:18.039
up the bestseller list. I'm like, okay, since the Bible dominates,

431
00:23:18.039 --> 00:23:20.319
it up and I'll look. I'm like, well, it's not

432
00:23:20.400 --> 00:23:22.519
on the New York Times bestseller list, it's not on

433
00:23:22.559 --> 00:23:26.200
the Amazon bestseller list, it's not on this bestseller list.

434
00:23:26.480 --> 00:23:29.599
Where is it on the best seller list? Where is it?

435
00:23:29.680 --> 00:23:33.680
Like Christians constantly say this, You do realize, pastors and

436
00:23:33.720 --> 00:23:38.240
teachers that when you say that without any qualification, someone's

437
00:23:38.279 --> 00:23:40.279
gonna go look up the best seller list and be

438
00:23:40.400 --> 00:23:42.640
like where is it? Like you walk into a you

439
00:23:42.680 --> 00:23:45.119
walk into a bookstore, and it'll be like best sellers,

440
00:23:45.160 --> 00:23:47.279
And I'm like, where's the Bible? I hear it's number

441
00:23:47.279 --> 00:23:50.079
one every year? Wait where is it? Why is it

442
00:23:50.160 --> 00:23:52.319
in number one? Why is it in number one? Why

443
00:23:52.400 --> 00:23:54.799
is in number one? And nobody can ever really offer

444
00:23:54.880 --> 00:23:58.400
me an explanation. So I'm like, well, since this article

445
00:23:58.440 --> 00:24:02.200
begins with making a claim again, just listen to it.

446
00:24:02.200 --> 00:24:05.319
It dominates the bestseller list. I mean it states it

447
00:24:05.359 --> 00:24:09.000
in a dogmatic, assertive way. Well, if you look up

448
00:24:09.000 --> 00:24:13.200
a little information, here's what we know, all right. The

449
00:24:13.200 --> 00:24:18.440
Bible itself, I quote does not typically appear on the

450
00:24:18.480 --> 00:24:21.599
mainstream bestsellers lists, such as those published by the New

451
00:24:21.680 --> 00:24:27.160
York Times or Amazon. Like what exactly? Now? They go

452
00:24:27.279 --> 00:24:30.160
through a number of reasons why that doesn't occur. There's

453
00:24:30.279 --> 00:24:34.200
there's the Bible's consistently one of the most sold books globally,

454
00:24:34.240 --> 00:24:36.599
but its sales are often so steady and widespread that

455
00:24:36.640 --> 00:24:39.519
it doesn't appear on lists designed to capture short term

456
00:24:39.559 --> 00:24:42.920
trends or spikes some popularity. So in some cases that

457
00:24:43.200 --> 00:24:46.039
charts are not really designed to capture a book like

458
00:24:46.079 --> 00:24:49.519
the Bible that does have lots of demand, and you

459
00:24:49.559 --> 00:24:52.240
know people are buying, you know, new editions or just

460
00:24:52.279 --> 00:24:56.359
replacing their Bibles, So to say it's on the bestseller

461
00:24:56.359 --> 00:24:59.240
list would not actually be an accurate thing. To say.

462
00:24:59.559 --> 00:25:04.279
Different tracking sometimes cells of the Bible are often trackted

463
00:25:04.319 --> 00:25:08.880
separately by publishers or religious organizations and Bible societies rather

464
00:25:08.920 --> 00:25:12.720
than mainstream commercial commercial outfits. Well, then how do you

465
00:25:12.720 --> 00:25:16.039
know it's on the bestseller list? If you're it's not

466
00:25:16.079 --> 00:25:23.599
going to appear on those lists. So I was continuing

467
00:25:23.680 --> 00:25:26.680
to look up information and I found this. It would

468
00:25:26.720 --> 00:25:29.880
not be accurate to write that the Bible still dominates

469
00:25:29.920 --> 00:25:35.319
the bestseller list in a book and because it just doesn't. So,

470
00:25:35.400 --> 00:25:37.000
in other words, it would not be accurate to write

471
00:25:37.000 --> 00:25:41.119
that the Bible still dominates the bestseller list. While the

472
00:25:41.119 --> 00:25:45.519
Bible maybe one of the most consistently sold books worldwide,

473
00:25:45.640 --> 00:25:48.440
it does not regularly appear on mainstream bestseller lists. For

474
00:25:48.519 --> 00:25:50.720
the reasons mentioned earlier, as I've already went through some

475
00:25:50.799 --> 00:25:53.319
of them. A more accurate statement may be something like,

476
00:25:53.559 --> 00:25:56.000
the Bible remains one of the best selling books of

477
00:25:56.000 --> 00:25:59.599
all time, which reflects it's enduring popularity without implying that

478
00:25:59.640 --> 00:26:05.039
it freaks top's contemporary bestseller list. So it's not accurate

479
00:26:05.079 --> 00:26:09.240
to say, again and I quote, it still dominates the

480
00:26:09.279 --> 00:26:16.839
best seller list. It doesn't, doesn't, all right, So we

481
00:26:16.880 --> 00:26:20.039
can start there, start there now next, So I'm going

482
00:26:20.079 --> 00:26:22.799
to read this whole thing again. The Bible is unique

483
00:26:22.880 --> 00:26:25.640
among the books of the world is its release date

484
00:26:25.799 --> 00:26:29.000
is centuries old, yet it still dominates the bestseller list,

485
00:26:29.359 --> 00:26:36.519
confronting modern moderns with mess with messages as fresh as

486
00:26:36.559 --> 00:26:44.480
today's news headlines. Okay. Church loves to say that when

487
00:26:44.480 --> 00:26:47.160
they're preaching to people, Hey, you want to study the

488
00:26:47.160 --> 00:26:51.319
Bible because it's just as fresh as today's news headlines.

489
00:26:51.519 --> 00:26:53.839
It's just as relevant. I understand. We try to sell

490
00:26:53.839 --> 00:26:57.079
it that way. Okay, we could go back and forth

491
00:26:57.119 --> 00:26:59.920
on that definitely has things that are just as relevant

492
00:27:00.240 --> 00:27:03.279
as today's news headlines. Again, maybe that's better. It goes

493
00:27:03.279 --> 00:27:07.039
on to say at times, the Bible is so crystal

494
00:27:07.119 --> 00:27:11.200
clear that a child can understand it, and yet it's

495
00:27:11.240 --> 00:27:17.279
difficulties can humble the most learned of scholars. Now I

496
00:27:17.359 --> 00:27:19.839
struggle with that a little bit, because everyone says, well,

497
00:27:19.839 --> 00:27:21.799
the Bible at times is so crystal clear that a

498
00:27:21.880 --> 00:27:28.599
child can understand it. Which parts are crystal clear? Please

499
00:27:28.640 --> 00:27:31.200
give me all the passages that are crystal clear, and

500
00:27:31.240 --> 00:27:34.400
then let's go look at commentaries and see how many

501
00:27:34.480 --> 00:27:39.160
people actually agree on the passages that are supposedly crystal clear.

502
00:27:42.960 --> 00:27:46.720
Because the history of Christianity demonstrates that whatever is supposedly

503
00:27:46.720 --> 00:27:50.359
crystal clear to one, someone else will say it's crystal clear,

504
00:27:50.359 --> 00:27:54.240
but come up with a completely opposite interpretation. But okay,

505
00:27:55.079 --> 00:27:58.960
it is. It's difficulties should humble the most learned of scholars.

506
00:27:59.160 --> 00:28:02.960
The Bible should humble all of us. Sadly, Christians tend

507
00:28:03.000 --> 00:28:06.240
to be very arrogant about their understanding of it, which

508
00:28:06.759 --> 00:28:11.680
drives me absolutely crazy. Right, it goes on to say

509
00:28:12.160 --> 00:28:16.880
diverse in theme and literary genres. I think that's very true.

510
00:28:16.920 --> 00:28:20.519
It's diverse in its themes and its literary genres. It

511
00:28:20.559 --> 00:28:24.240
conveys a unified story, a message that climaxes in the

512
00:28:24.279 --> 00:28:27.519
person and work of Jesus Christ, it was delivered through

513
00:28:27.880 --> 00:28:31.440
human writers. It is truly God's word. The Bible can

514
00:28:31.440 --> 00:28:34.160
seem as familiar as a walk next door, or as

515
00:28:34.279 --> 00:28:38.720
foreign as a distant country. This article aims to help

516
00:28:38.799 --> 00:28:44.559
you hear from God through daily interaction with the Bible. Now,

517
00:28:44.599 --> 00:28:50.240
I'm going to stop right here. This article aims this

518
00:28:50.359 --> 00:28:53.799
is important to help you hear from God through daily

519
00:28:54.079 --> 00:28:56.799
interaction with the Bible. Now, when you say hear from

520
00:28:56.799 --> 00:29:00.839
God through daily interaction with the Bible, what do you

521
00:29:01.079 --> 00:29:05.599
mean by that? Because see, what makes me nervous is

522
00:29:05.640 --> 00:29:11.119
this sets up to me already a false philosophy that

523
00:29:11.160 --> 00:29:14.079
will lead to a mishandling of God's word. I don't

524
00:29:14.119 --> 00:29:16.519
come to now if you're gonna say I'm gonna help

525
00:29:16.559 --> 00:29:18.880
you're gonna help me hear from God. I Now, on

526
00:29:18.880 --> 00:29:21.400
one hand, I'm gonna hear from God simply because it's

527
00:29:21.400 --> 00:29:24.200
God's word, the end. But if you're saying, I'm gonna

528
00:29:24.200 --> 00:29:26.839
come to the Bible and I'm gonna hear fort from

529
00:29:26.880 --> 00:29:31.960
God somehow directly speaking to me directly about what I'm reading,

530
00:29:32.119 --> 00:29:35.319
as if it's applicable to me, Because in some cases

531
00:29:35.359 --> 00:29:38.640
what we're reading is not applicable to us. It's its

532
00:29:38.680 --> 00:29:41.519
application is for the original recipients, and we got to

533
00:29:41.519 --> 00:29:44.559
be very careful to reach in there and grab and go. Well,

534
00:29:44.559 --> 00:29:47.880
this is saying this to me. That is a problem,

535
00:29:47.920 --> 00:29:50.960
and too many Christians think that way they open the Bible,

536
00:29:51.000 --> 00:29:54.160
they're reading, Well, God today said this to me. God

537
00:29:54.240 --> 00:29:57.240
did not say that to you. God said that to Abram,

538
00:29:57.240 --> 00:29:59.559
he said that to Sarah, he said that to Joseph.

539
00:29:59.640 --> 00:30:03.200
He did can not say it to you. Now, what

540
00:30:03.359 --> 00:30:06.400
can you learn from it? That's a different question. Don't

541
00:30:06.480 --> 00:30:09.880
act like God is speaking directly to you and some

542
00:30:09.960 --> 00:30:12.799
of these passages, because it's not. Again, I've told the

543
00:30:12.839 --> 00:30:16.079
story countless times how a woman I worked with could

544
00:30:16.119 --> 00:30:18.279
not have a baby. Her and her husband kept praying

545
00:30:18.319 --> 00:30:20.680
that she would get pregnant, praying and praying, and then

546
00:30:20.680 --> 00:30:23.400
one morning for her devotion, she read God's promise that

547
00:30:23.400 --> 00:30:26.400
Sarah would have a child, and God spoke to her

548
00:30:26.519 --> 00:30:28.519
and she's going to have a baby. And I was like,

549
00:30:29.119 --> 00:30:32.440
your name is not Sarah, your husband's name is not Abram.

550
00:30:32.839 --> 00:30:35.680
That promise was not to you, not intended for you.

551
00:30:36.240 --> 00:30:39.319
It's not so stop looking to that promise for you.

552
00:30:39.720 --> 00:30:42.880
That's the problem. When you have kind of this mentality that, Oh,

553
00:30:42.920 --> 00:30:45.680
God's gonna speak, you gotta be careful how you handle that.

554
00:30:46.039 --> 00:30:50.599
But what do they go on to say? The article

555
00:30:50.759 --> 00:30:54.359
aims to help you hear from God through daily interaction

556
00:30:54.519 --> 00:30:57.599
with the Bible. Hearing God in the pages of the

557
00:30:57.599 --> 00:31:04.400
Bible takes time effort. Spiritual listening is a skill that

558
00:31:04.440 --> 00:31:08.319
we continue to develop all of our lives. Now, what

559
00:31:08.359 --> 00:31:14.359
do you mean about hearing God in the pages? I

560
00:31:14.400 --> 00:31:16.680
hear God in the pages because all scripture is given

561
00:31:16.680 --> 00:31:21.240
by inspiration of God. It is profitable for teaching doctrine,

562
00:31:21.240 --> 00:31:24.400
reproved correction, instruction, and righteousness. That's the Man of God,

563
00:31:24.440 --> 00:31:26.759
maybe thoroughly furnished into every good work. But what do

564
00:31:26.799 --> 00:31:29.160
I so? I hear from God in a sense that

565
00:31:29.240 --> 00:31:32.279
it's his word. But what do you mean? It takes

566
00:31:32.400 --> 00:31:34.839
time and effort to hear God in the pages. See

567
00:31:34.880 --> 00:31:38.400
that's see You're turning it into something mystical. Now, okay,

568
00:31:38.519 --> 00:31:41.039
I'm going to read the Bible, but I gotta hear

569
00:31:41.119 --> 00:31:44.759
God in the pages. I gotta hear God in the pages.

570
00:31:45.599 --> 00:31:50.480
Is that like a wind that comes through the I

571
00:31:50.599 --> 00:31:55.160
heard God? See that turns it into a mystical almost

572
00:31:55.200 --> 00:31:59.559
a superstitious action. No, I open the Bible. It's God's word.

573
00:31:59.720 --> 00:32:02.720
I read it and then I interpret it like any

574
00:32:02.839 --> 00:32:08.559
other written piece of literature. There's words, there's definitions, there's

575
00:32:08.640 --> 00:32:12.720
context there, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. And what

576
00:32:12.720 --> 00:32:15.720
does it mean? It takes to hear God in the pages,

577
00:32:16.079 --> 00:32:19.480
takes time and effort. Spiritual listening is a skill that

578
00:32:19.519 --> 00:32:22.839
we continue to develop all our lives. What do you

579
00:32:22.880 --> 00:32:31.720
mean spiritual listening? Spiritual listening? Again? Is it something mysterious myth?

580
00:32:32.079 --> 00:32:36.200
Or is it? Just open the Bible? Figure out basic context.

581
00:32:36.559 --> 00:32:39.480
Who is speak, who is writing, who is speaking? Who

582
00:32:39.519 --> 00:32:42.119
is it being written and spoken to? What was the

583
00:32:42.119 --> 00:32:45.599
original context? What was their original purpose? How did their

584
00:32:45.920 --> 00:32:50.920
original recipients understand it? Okay, so we want to do observation.

585
00:32:51.119 --> 00:32:54.039
We want to observe exactly what is going on, and

586
00:32:54.079 --> 00:32:56.440
we want to observe the who, what, where, when, how?

587
00:32:56.559 --> 00:32:59.759
Everything perfectly. Then once we do the observation, then we

588
00:32:59.839 --> 00:33:02.440
can and then interpret it based on what it said

589
00:33:02.480 --> 00:33:05.920
and based on its context. This is how we understand it. Now,

590
00:33:06.319 --> 00:33:09.480
what lessons could possibly be drawn from it that could

591
00:33:09.480 --> 00:33:12.039
be applicable to us? And let's be very careful to

592
00:33:12.119 --> 00:33:16.079
recognize some passages are simply descriptive and it's not prescribing

593
00:33:16.119 --> 00:33:18.599
anything those see that's just like a basic What is

594
00:33:18.599 --> 00:33:24.599
this spiritual? I got to develop its words again, I

595
00:33:24.720 --> 00:33:29.359
have to It takes time and effort to develop. Spiritual

596
00:33:29.480 --> 00:33:32.039
listening is a skill that we continue to develop in

597
00:33:32.079 --> 00:33:38.000
all of our lives. What do you mean spiritual listening? Now,

598
00:33:38.000 --> 00:33:39.960
it doesn't explain it. It just goes on to say,

599
00:33:40.359 --> 00:33:44.680
hearing someone well can be challenging when we move across

600
00:33:44.720 --> 00:33:47.039
cultural lines, and in fact, reading the Bible is very

601
00:33:47.119 --> 00:33:51.279
much across cultural conversation. Since God gave his word in places,

602
00:33:51.359 --> 00:33:54.920
times and circumstances very much removed from our own. Yes,

603
00:33:55.079 --> 00:33:59.000
he gave his word and situations and centuries very much

604
00:33:59.039 --> 00:34:01.960
removed from our own. And we got to remember sometimes

605
00:34:01.960 --> 00:34:06.200
those words have no direct they're not speaking to us.

606
00:34:06.799 --> 00:34:10.039
It's descriptive. Now we can say, well, is there a lesson?

607
00:34:10.519 --> 00:34:13.840
But that's very different. Oh, this morning, and my devotional

608
00:34:14.119 --> 00:34:17.719
God was saying this to me now, and you're devotional

609
00:34:17.960 --> 00:34:22.519
God was saying that to Abram, not to you. Now,

610
00:34:22.519 --> 00:34:27.800
what can you learn from it? See that you've got

611
00:34:27.800 --> 00:34:30.960
to make that distinction or you turn the Bible into

612
00:34:30.960 --> 00:34:35.760
this just weird like ooh, I'm hearing from God kind

613
00:34:35.800 --> 00:34:42.159
of thing, and it's it. I can't stand that. So

614
00:34:43.159 --> 00:34:48.000
that's the first really major paragraph. That's the first major paragraph,

615
00:34:48.480 --> 00:34:52.000
and it's just about hearing God, hearing from God, hearing

616
00:34:52.079 --> 00:34:55.519
from God. Again. Here's the thing. I hear from God

617
00:34:55.679 --> 00:35:00.400
in a general sense, because it's God's word times, what

618
00:35:00.440 --> 00:35:03.719
I'm hearing is God speaking to others about their circumstances,

619
00:35:03.880 --> 00:35:07.280
their situation. He's directing them or prescribing to them a

620
00:35:07.320 --> 00:35:10.199
behavior that is not being directed or prescribed to me.

621
00:35:12.079 --> 00:35:14.760
Now when I hear it, what I need to do

622
00:35:14.840 --> 00:35:17.800
is understand who who actually is being spoken to and

623
00:35:17.920 --> 00:35:21.800
of and then like, okay, what can I what is

624
00:35:21.840 --> 00:35:27.679
applicable to me without doing any damage to the scriptures

625
00:35:27.880 --> 00:35:38.320
maintaining the correct context. All right, Now, so there's the

626
00:35:38.320 --> 00:35:42.599
there's the first part. I'm I I. So I'm just

627
00:35:42.639 --> 00:35:46.079
gonna say it. I challenge the whole hearing from God concept.

628
00:35:46.199 --> 00:35:48.519
So let's make it and again, and I'm gonna go

629
00:35:48.519 --> 00:35:51.159
ahead and just deal with this here. It is common

630
00:35:51.199 --> 00:35:54.320
for Christians to say, all right, when you read the Bible,

631
00:35:54.559 --> 00:35:56.760
then you listen to God and God's going to speak

632
00:35:56.800 --> 00:35:59.320
to you. If God is speaking to me outside of

633
00:35:59.360 --> 00:36:02.360
the pages of Scripture, than the pages of Scripture are

634
00:36:02.400 --> 00:36:05.480
no longer the final authority whatever God is saying to

635
00:36:05.519 --> 00:36:08.199
me about the scriptures. And if God is speaking to

636
00:36:08.280 --> 00:36:11.400
Christians outside of the Bible about the Bible, then all

637
00:36:11.480 --> 00:36:14.519
Christians should come to the same conclusion since it's God

638
00:36:14.639 --> 00:36:17.280
talking to us outside of the Bible about the Bible.

639
00:36:17.519 --> 00:36:20.239
God is not talking to you about the Bible outside

640
00:36:20.239 --> 00:36:22.480
of the Bible, because if so, we would all have

641
00:36:22.519 --> 00:36:25.440
the same interpretation. And not only that, If you're saying

642
00:36:25.480 --> 00:36:27.639
that God is telling you what it means outside of

643
00:36:27.719 --> 00:36:30.960
the Bible, because He's speaking directly to you, then your belief,

644
00:36:31.159 --> 00:36:35.079
your belief would be your interpretation is authoritative. You're making

645
00:36:35.119 --> 00:36:39.960
yourself an infallible poe with an infallible interpretation. Because God

646
00:36:40.039 --> 00:36:44.679
gave you the interpretation. That is nonsense, that is crazy talk.

647
00:36:47.599 --> 00:36:51.280
God gave us his word and written form. Our job

648
00:36:51.320 --> 00:36:53.519
is now to read it and interpret it like we

649
00:36:53.599 --> 00:36:57.480
do any other piece of literature, following the basic rules

650
00:36:57.519 --> 00:37:04.239
of reading, comprehension and reading interpreting. God spoke to me.

651
00:37:04.760 --> 00:37:09.920
God said this to me. That just turns it into Well,

652
00:37:09.960 --> 00:37:13.400
it's very charismatic, is what it becomes. And it leads

653
00:37:13.400 --> 00:37:19.039
to utter spiritual anarchy and chaos. All right, God speaks

654
00:37:19.039 --> 00:37:21.559
to me through the Bible because it is his word.

655
00:37:22.719 --> 00:37:29.119
But in it there's context, there's original recipients, original hearers,

656
00:37:29.559 --> 00:37:38.719
original historical situational context. I will go with at least

657
00:37:38.719 --> 00:37:41.159
one more, at least the next section here. So the

658
00:37:41.199 --> 00:37:43.840
first section is just really the introduction the Bibles. You

659
00:37:43.920 --> 00:37:47.840
need everyone. It's been sold and bought so many different times.

660
00:37:48.280 --> 00:37:51.039
But hey, hey, hey, hey, here's the thing we want

661
00:37:51.039 --> 00:37:56.440
to hear from God in it. And he doesn't elaborate

662
00:37:56.559 --> 00:37:59.519
on that, but I already have some issues now in

663
00:37:59.559 --> 00:38:07.360
his other book here reading the Bible better. Yeah, I

664
00:38:07.360 --> 00:38:11.360
don't know if he goes Yeah, he may, he may

665
00:38:11.440 --> 00:38:14.840
go there. I don't. I'm not. I was gonna start

666
00:38:14.840 --> 00:38:17.079
looking for for it. But I'm not going to do that.

667
00:38:17.440 --> 00:38:18.920
I am. I am going to see here because he

668
00:38:19.000 --> 00:38:29.480
have a table contents here. Yeah, hear the words, page

669
00:38:29.519 --> 00:38:32.559
forty seven. Hear the words now again? Is that hearing

670
00:38:32.559 --> 00:38:35.000
the words of scripture or is that hearing God outside

671
00:38:35.000 --> 00:38:38.280
of scripture? Now? We do hear words when we read

672
00:38:38.280 --> 00:38:40.119
the Bible. I will agree with that. All right, But

673
00:38:40.239 --> 00:38:42.360
the next part here in the article, in the essay,

674
00:38:42.920 --> 00:38:46.360
it's called this section is entitled why spend time in

675
00:38:46.400 --> 00:38:49.440
the Bible? All right, let's see what's the motivation here.

676
00:38:50.280 --> 00:38:56.320
Perhaps this is how this section begins. Perhaps your past

677
00:38:57.000 --> 00:39:00.559
has been marked by starts and stops and reading the Bible.

678
00:39:01.360 --> 00:39:04.800
You are you, and you are wondering whether you have

679
00:39:04.880 --> 00:39:09.320
the discipline to engage in the Bible consistently well join

680
00:39:09.480 --> 00:39:12.519
the club. Most of us have struggled with the discipline

681
00:39:12.559 --> 00:39:15.480
of Bible reading and study, so it is worth giving

682
00:39:15.519 --> 00:39:21.840
consistent So it is worth giving consistent Bible reading and

683
00:39:22.159 --> 00:39:26.079
study another try, or even a first try. Most believers

684
00:39:26.239 --> 00:39:29.760
know it intuitively that this is the case. So let's

685
00:39:30.119 --> 00:39:33.400
read this again. So perhaps you're one of those people

686
00:39:33.639 --> 00:39:36.599
who've that your life has been marked by starts and

687
00:39:36.679 --> 00:39:42.360
stops and reading the Bible. Now I would raise this question,

688
00:39:42.400 --> 00:39:47.719
why is it seemingly so common and Christendom from one

689
00:39:47.960 --> 00:39:49.719
end of the country to the other end of the

690
00:39:49.719 --> 00:39:53.920
country and around the club that Christians, by large, by

691
00:39:54.559 --> 00:39:58.000
by every statistical analysis that we can come up with,

692
00:39:58.400 --> 00:40:03.480
they don't spend conc distant time reading their Bibles. Some will,

693
00:40:03.760 --> 00:40:06.360
some don't, and typically what you find is the ones

694
00:40:06.440 --> 00:40:10.079
more consistent, not always are people who typically love to

695
00:40:10.119 --> 00:40:13.079
read anyway, So it's not even a spiritual thing, it's

696
00:40:13.159 --> 00:40:15.920
just their normal. They love to read. But why is

697
00:40:16.000 --> 00:40:17.920
it that you think if you were to look at

698
00:40:18.000 --> 00:40:21.079
your church, what would you think would be the statistical

699
00:40:21.440 --> 00:40:27.280
breakdown that people read and people read and study their

700
00:40:27.280 --> 00:40:31.679
Bible on a consistent basis, read and study on a

701
00:40:31.719 --> 00:40:34.639
consistent base. They're actually using a study method and they're

702
00:40:34.639 --> 00:40:36.920
actually reading on a consistent basis. What do you think

703
00:40:36.960 --> 00:40:41.079
that number would be? Do you think that percentage over

704
00:40:41.159 --> 00:40:44.880
fifty percent? I think it would be probably well under

705
00:40:44.880 --> 00:40:50.320
twenty percent, And you would be shocked. These people sound godly.

706
00:40:50.760 --> 00:40:54.199
They may they may condemn a lot of other sins,

707
00:40:54.239 --> 00:40:56.480
and they may try to live again, but they don't

708
00:40:56.519 --> 00:41:01.039
really engage in any meaningful consistent read and study. There

709
00:41:01.039 --> 00:41:04.280
may start, but then they'll stop. Now it goes on

710
00:41:04.320 --> 00:41:07.079
to say that you may be wondering whether you have

711
00:41:07.119 --> 00:41:12.199
the discipline to engage to engage the Bible consistently. Now see,

712
00:41:12.280 --> 00:41:16.159
now this comes down to it's discipline. Now, this is

713
00:41:16.199 --> 00:41:19.480
where I struggle because that's the reality of Christianity. That's

714
00:41:19.480 --> 00:41:22.320
the reality is most Christians don't read and study on

715
00:41:22.360 --> 00:41:27.119
a consistent basis. They just don't. So then the issue is, well,

716
00:41:27.119 --> 00:41:29.880
wait a minute, because you've got some people from their

717
00:41:29.880 --> 00:41:32.880
theological background will say, if you don't love the word

718
00:41:32.920 --> 00:41:35.639
of God, desire the word of God, and feed upon

719
00:41:35.679 --> 00:41:37.960
the Word of God on a consistent basis, this is

720
00:41:38.039 --> 00:41:40.199
proof you were never saved. Well, now you're about to

721
00:41:40.199 --> 00:41:51.320
throw out about eighty percent of Christianity. Now, I think

722
00:41:51.360 --> 00:41:53.360
we all agree we should love the word of God,

723
00:41:53.559 --> 00:41:55.719
we should desire the word of God. But I think

724
00:41:55.760 --> 00:41:58.199
we all know some people just don't like to read

725
00:41:58.280 --> 00:42:04.519
or study. So it is a struggle, and I think

726
00:42:04.559 --> 00:42:06.840
it does come down to just you've got to have

727
00:42:06.880 --> 00:42:11.199
the discipline. You've got to have the discipline, it says,

728
00:42:11.239 --> 00:42:14.719
we will join the club. So even he acknowledges that

729
00:42:14.880 --> 00:42:17.119
most of us have struggled with the discipline of Bible

730
00:42:17.159 --> 00:42:20.039
reading and study. So it is worth giving consistent Bible

731
00:42:20.119 --> 00:42:22.639
reading and study another try, or a first try. Most

732
00:42:22.679 --> 00:42:28.079
believers know intuitively that it is so everyone we know

733
00:42:28.159 --> 00:42:30.880
we should do it, he says, intuitively, we kind of

734
00:42:30.920 --> 00:42:38.039
know it, but it's most people struggle with it. Next,

735
00:42:39.119 --> 00:42:45.400
this is God's word, the word God, the God who

736
00:42:45.480 --> 00:42:48.519
spoke the world into being, has spoken his truth about

737
00:42:48.559 --> 00:42:51.760
life through the Bible, so that we might know what

738
00:42:51.880 --> 00:42:54.480
he intends for the world and how we might live

739
00:42:54.599 --> 00:42:58.880
for his fame. He calls us to be word people,

740
00:42:59.159 --> 00:43:03.000
people who are cultural and the ways we approach life. Thus,

741
00:43:03.039 --> 00:43:07.280
the Bible serves as the foundation for the understanding who

742
00:43:07.320 --> 00:43:10.719
we are and what we should be doing in this world.

743
00:43:10.880 --> 00:43:13.559
So his argument is, why should you be spending time

744
00:43:13.599 --> 00:43:16.760
in the Bible? It is God's word, The God who

745
00:43:16.840 --> 00:43:20.159
created everything has given us his word, so we should

746
00:43:20.199 --> 00:43:22.599
want to know it. We should desire it because it's

747
00:43:22.599 --> 00:43:24.880
the word that tells us how to live, how to think.

748
00:43:25.000 --> 00:43:27.480
It helps us understand the world around us. So we

749
00:43:27.559 --> 00:43:30.679
should be countercultural, and we should be approaching the scripture,

750
00:43:30.760 --> 00:43:33.840
loving the scriptures, and desiring the scriptures. Now everyone says

751
00:43:33.880 --> 00:43:38.159
we should, but everyone all the statistical studies say Christians

752
00:43:38.159 --> 00:43:40.400
at large don't, And nobody ever seems to have a

753
00:43:40.400 --> 00:43:43.559
good explanation to the reason why, other than to say, well,

754
00:43:43.760 --> 00:43:46.320
they're probably not saved and then throw out basically everyone

755
00:43:46.320 --> 00:43:52.159
from the Kingdom of God, which I completely rejected that approach. Now,

756
00:43:52.199 --> 00:43:54.199
it goes on to say in the next few pages

757
00:43:54.760 --> 00:43:57.639
that the author says, here, I will offer number of

758
00:43:57.639 --> 00:44:01.039
suggestions that you can start applying daily and less time

759
00:44:01.039 --> 00:44:05.159
than it takes to watch a sit calm on TV. Hey, hey, look, look,

760
00:44:06.159 --> 00:44:08.079
you need to read because it's God's word. But I'm

761
00:44:08.119 --> 00:44:09.519
going to try to give you some things that you

762
00:44:09.559 --> 00:44:13.159
can put into effect in less time than it takes

763
00:44:13.159 --> 00:44:15.760
to watch a sitcom on TV. Now, the thing is,

764
00:44:16.079 --> 00:44:21.960
it's I find it almost fundamentally contradictory in some ways

765
00:44:22.079 --> 00:44:24.239
that on one hand, Christians are like, it's the word

766
00:44:24.280 --> 00:44:27.079
of God, it's what we need, we must have it.

767
00:44:27.119 --> 00:44:28.599
On the other hand, we're like, Okay, we got to

768
00:44:28.599 --> 00:44:30.599
find a way to do this so that it'll be quick,

769
00:44:30.760 --> 00:44:33.239
because we got to make it quick, because well, if

770
00:44:33.239 --> 00:44:35.679
we don't make it quick quick, Christians won't engage. So

771
00:44:35.719 --> 00:44:37.840
guess what Christians have been trying to do, you know,

772
00:44:38.119 --> 00:44:42.400
the five minute you know, five minute devotional, one minute devotional,

773
00:44:42.400 --> 00:44:45.440
ten minute devotional, fifteen minutes in God's work. And we've

774
00:44:45.440 --> 00:44:47.199
tried to do everything we can to reduce it and

775
00:44:47.239 --> 00:44:49.000
reduce it and reduce it so that we can get

776
00:44:49.000 --> 00:44:51.960
people to participate but in every little trick to try

777
00:44:51.960 --> 00:44:56.679
to get people to participate, for the majority, there's always

778
00:44:56.679 --> 00:44:59.960
the exception. But for the majority, it doesn't move them

779
00:45:00.119 --> 00:45:06.760
to do anything. Now, I will argue that usually the

780
00:45:06.840 --> 00:45:10.280
distinguishing part is not and this is not always the case.

781
00:45:10.559 --> 00:45:12.920
It's people who typically love to read, and people who

782
00:45:12.920 --> 00:45:16.760
typically love to study, and people who typically have notebooks

783
00:45:16.800 --> 00:45:20.280
and take notes on what they read, and they may

784
00:45:20.360 --> 00:45:24.440
even enjoyed school. Those kinds of people are typically the

785
00:45:24.519 --> 00:45:27.719
Christians who read, have a notebook, take notes, and do

786
00:45:27.760 --> 00:45:30.559
all that stuff. Anyway, it's just kind of the fleshly thing.

787
00:45:30.760 --> 00:45:34.880
It's nothing spiritual. And those who don't ever really like

788
00:45:35.000 --> 00:45:37.360
to read, they don't ever, they don't They're not going

789
00:45:37.400 --> 00:45:39.599
to have a notebook, they're not going to write anything down,

790
00:45:39.760 --> 00:45:42.360
they're not going to do anything along those lines. People

791
00:45:42.400 --> 00:45:45.760
who typically have that mentality are people who probably when

792
00:45:45.800 --> 00:45:47.519
they become a Christian are not going to do much

793
00:45:47.519 --> 00:45:55.280
reading and studying anyway. Now that the reason I bring

794
00:45:55.360 --> 00:45:57.400
that up is it means a lot of times the

795
00:45:57.440 --> 00:46:00.239
way you live out your Christian Christian life a lot

796
00:46:00.239 --> 00:46:03.719
of times it's more based just off your fleshly personality

797
00:46:03.960 --> 00:46:06.760
than it does some spiritual thing. Right, you have some

798
00:46:06.800 --> 00:46:08.480
people who are like, well, I don't do this, and

799
00:46:08.519 --> 00:46:10.079
I don't do this, and you wouldn't be doing that

800
00:46:10.119 --> 00:46:12.199
even if you weren't a Christian. Well, I do this

801
00:46:12.280 --> 00:46:14.639
and I do this, yeah, because that's what you would

802
00:46:14.639 --> 00:46:18.480
do even as a non Christian. Like sometimes, so much

803
00:46:18.519 --> 00:46:22.840
of our Christian life is just our normal, fleshly self

804
00:46:23.199 --> 00:46:27.639
just living itself out within the context of Christianity. Well,

805
00:46:27.639 --> 00:46:30.559
I don't listen to that worldly music, and you didn't

806
00:46:30.639 --> 00:46:33.719
like the worldly music before you were saved. Okay. Now

807
00:46:33.760 --> 00:46:36.840
sometimes they will claim they were, I really was into

808
00:46:36.880 --> 00:46:38.760
this music. You start talking to them like, I don't

809
00:46:38.760 --> 00:46:40.679
think you're really much of a fan because you don't

810
00:46:40.679 --> 00:46:43.000
seem to have a clue what you're talking about. Okay, So,

811
00:46:43.159 --> 00:46:46.320
but the point is reality is a lot of times

812
00:46:46.360 --> 00:46:49.199
our Christian life is simply just our own fleshly self

813
00:46:49.280 --> 00:46:51.880
just being lived out in the context of Christianity. And

814
00:46:51.920 --> 00:46:55.400
sometimes we assign like I know I used to do it.

815
00:46:55.639 --> 00:46:58.320
I could as signed. Look, look, I know that I

816
00:46:58.400 --> 00:47:00.880
love God and I'm saved because a look at how

817
00:47:00.960 --> 00:47:03.519
much I read, look at how much I study. But

818
00:47:03.559 --> 00:47:07.440
that I don't think that was a proof of anything spiritual.

819
00:47:07.519 --> 00:47:10.880
That's my normal self. Give me books, give me notebooks,

820
00:47:11.199 --> 00:47:18.400
give me pencils. Life is good doesn't mean I'm spiritual.

821
00:47:22.239 --> 00:47:25.079
I took great spiritual pride in that fact, but it

822
00:47:25.119 --> 00:47:27.840
was more of a fleshly thing than a spiritual thing.

823
00:47:32.880 --> 00:47:40.719
So what can we take from this introduction? The Church

824
00:47:40.760 --> 00:47:43.239
at large, I think has done a very poor job

825
00:47:43.239 --> 00:47:47.719
in really training people and instructing people on how to

826
00:47:47.760 --> 00:47:50.360
actually study. I think there's been Christians, have been Christians

827
00:47:50.360 --> 00:47:51.880
for ten fifteen years. They couldn't tell you how to

828
00:47:51.880 --> 00:47:54.159
study the Bible. Their life depended upon it, and they've

829
00:47:54.199 --> 00:47:56.079
been going to church and going to church. They don't

830
00:47:56.119 --> 00:47:59.079
know a Bible study method. They would know a thematic

831
00:47:59.119 --> 00:48:01.880
method from a topical method, a word study. They would

832
00:48:02.039 --> 00:48:05.280
know chapter analysis from a chapter summary. They don't know

833
00:48:05.360 --> 00:48:07.679
these methods. They don't know how to do these methods.

834
00:48:07.800 --> 00:48:10.239
They have no clue. They're basic. They can give you

835
00:48:10.360 --> 00:48:13.159
is very just. They can throw out a lot of

836
00:48:13.840 --> 00:48:17.760
cliches about Bible study, but they don't really have a method.

837
00:48:17.960 --> 00:48:19.920
They don't And when you look at it, like what

838
00:48:19.920 --> 00:48:21.800
do you what do you? What is that? What are

839
00:48:21.840 --> 00:48:25.039
you doing? Like? What what method are you utilizing. They

840
00:48:25.039 --> 00:48:27.920
don't have a method they and and so that is

841
00:48:28.039 --> 00:48:32.800
that that's a problem. The Church has felled people there horribly,

842
00:48:33.400 --> 00:48:36.559
and in many cases the church would won't take responsibilities.

843
00:48:36.840 --> 00:48:38.639
But we did a course on how to study the Bible,

844
00:48:39.000 --> 00:48:42.239
go listen to it. You didn't give them anything tangible.

845
00:48:42.920 --> 00:48:46.719
You didn't give them anything they need tangible steps tangible

846
00:48:46.800 --> 00:48:49.280
because if you it's like a recipe, right, you can

847
00:48:49.320 --> 00:48:53.599
talk in general about cooking, you can talk in general principles,

848
00:48:53.840 --> 00:48:56.159
but at some point someone's gonna need a recipe. What

849
00:48:56.360 --> 00:48:59.199
ingredients do I need? What steps do I take? How

850
00:48:59.199 --> 00:49:02.840
do I mix it? Watch the temperature? And with Bible

851
00:49:02.880 --> 00:49:06.400
study you can give them general principles. There's a stove,

852
00:49:07.639 --> 00:49:10.079
there's different ingredients that go in food, and you mix

853
00:49:10.119 --> 00:49:12.440
it together and then you get a mill. Okay, Well

854
00:49:12.480 --> 00:49:14.360
that doesn't tell you how to make a mill, right,

855
00:49:14.719 --> 00:49:17.079
So at some point you got to have the specific steps.

856
00:49:17.280 --> 00:49:20.559
So sometimes these how to study I think are problematic.

857
00:49:20.719 --> 00:49:22.639
So I think the Church has felled people, and when

858
00:49:22.679 --> 00:49:24.719
they do try to train them, I think they don't

859
00:49:24.760 --> 00:49:29.239
train them in an adequate way, right. But I think

860
00:49:29.280 --> 00:49:34.199
there's also a fundamentally flawed precept or philosophy that when

861
00:49:34.199 --> 00:49:36.280
I read the Bible, God is speaking directly to me,

862
00:49:38.119 --> 00:49:40.639
not in a general sense that all the Bible is

863
00:49:40.679 --> 00:49:43.480
God's word, so therefore it is God's speaking. But like

864
00:49:43.559 --> 00:49:46.840
he's speaking directly to me, he's given. God is not

865
00:49:46.880 --> 00:49:50.239
speaking to you outside of scripture, even about scripture. God

866
00:49:50.280 --> 00:49:53.280
speaks to us through scripture alone. If he's speaking to

867
00:49:53.360 --> 00:49:55.960
you about the Bible outside of the Bible, then you

868
00:49:56.039 --> 00:49:58.440
have a separate authority. You don't have just the Bible.

869
00:49:58.519 --> 00:50:00.920
And if God is the one telling you to understand it,

870
00:50:01.119 --> 00:50:02.960
then what you're claiming, even if you don't want to,

871
00:50:03.320 --> 00:50:06.079
is that you have an infallible interpretation because it supposedly

872
00:50:06.079 --> 00:50:11.159
came from God. Well that's problematic, all right. So this

873
00:50:11.199 --> 00:50:15.199
whole hearing from God. We hear from God generally when

874
00:50:15.239 --> 00:50:17.599
we open the Bible, and sometimes we are hearing him

875
00:50:17.599 --> 00:50:21.719
speak to other people and specific historical context and it's

876
00:50:21.760 --> 00:50:24.800
not directly applicable to us or maybe lessons in it,

877
00:50:25.000 --> 00:50:28.400
but it's not directly applicable to us. Why spend time

878
00:50:28.440 --> 00:50:33.679
in the Bible, Well, because it's God's word. But there's

879
00:50:33.719 --> 00:50:37.239
a problem. Christians don't Why don't they Nobody seems to

880
00:50:37.320 --> 00:50:39.079
have a good answer. I think what we have to

881
00:50:39.079 --> 00:50:41.840
be careful of is the idea that I think sometimes

882
00:50:41.880 --> 00:50:45.840
it's our fleshly pursuit that we make ourselves convinced that

883
00:50:45.880 --> 00:50:48.119
it's a spiritual pursuit, but it's just something we would

884
00:50:48.159 --> 00:50:51.159
fleshly do. We need to develop a discipline and a

885
00:50:51.159 --> 00:50:53.519
love and a desire for God's word. We need to

886
00:50:53.599 --> 00:50:57.559
figure it out now. I wanted to get to the

887
00:50:57.599 --> 00:51:02.320
next section. Next section is begin with the Heart, and

888
00:51:02.400 --> 00:51:06.199
I'm going to really challenge this a little bit, all right,

889
00:51:06.599 --> 00:51:12.360
but there you have it. We will work our way

890
00:51:12.360 --> 00:51:14.280
through this over the next I don't know, a couple

891
00:51:14.280 --> 00:51:18.800
of days, and hopefully we can benefit greatly from it.

892
00:51:19.320 --> 00:51:21.920
And the meantime, if you want those books again, the

893
00:51:21.960 --> 00:51:25.280
first one is reading A Short Guide to Reading the

894
00:51:25.719 --> 00:51:29.159
Bible Better by George H. Guthrie. George H. Guthrie. As

895
00:51:29.159 --> 00:51:31.039
you can see, I'm probably going to disagree with a

896
00:51:31.079 --> 00:51:35.480
lot here and then or you can look up the book.

897
00:51:35.920 --> 00:51:39.639
Hang on, let me find it How to Read Your

898
00:51:39.679 --> 00:51:44.559
Bible by George Guthrie, and both are available on Amazon

899
00:51:44.840 --> 00:51:47.639
or wherever you probably get your Christian books. I know

900
00:51:47.679 --> 00:51:51.320
it would be at Christian Book distributors. I think LifeWay

901
00:51:51.360 --> 00:51:53.519
is the one I got the small one at I

902
00:51:53.519 --> 00:51:59.599
think maybe I can't remember, but yeah, we'll see. Now,

903
00:51:59.639 --> 00:52:04.119
since I've already challenged some of the basic concepts, well

904
00:52:04.159 --> 00:52:06.000
you can tell me what you think if you so desire.

905
00:52:06.039 --> 00:52:11.079
All right, everyone, have a great day. That's the school bus,

906
00:52:11.079 --> 00:52:14.800
I think. I think that's the school bus dropping some

907
00:52:14.880 --> 00:52:17.159
kids off. All right, it was loud in the background.

908
00:52:17.199 --> 00:52:19.079
All Right, thank you everyone, have a great day. God

909
00:52:19.119 --> 00:52:19.400
bless